Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1887-02-10
REPORT OF THE aKAND JURY.


me Grand Inquest Onsrs ssms very
Valuable Hinss ana Suggestions for
ne Consideration Of the Court and the
The Grand Jury completed their
lAbors yesterday afternoon and submit
ted the following annual report to the
IC1urt:
To the Honorable Chief Justice andlthe
AssOciate judges:
The Grand Inquest, having completed
its lsbors for thsspast year, respectfully
report having actad on 132 bills, of
which number l16 have ben returned
| and 2 sent TO the Ferris Reform School.
Quite , number OF these caees we're Of 3
trivial char ,cter, and 70 Would sug.
gest that someowAy should bs provided
By which many Of them should have
been settled bt fore = lower court. 30
much OF the time the court and jury
has been tAkon up with petty cases
which should by Law be settled either
before the Municipal Coprt or justices
Of ths peace-for instanco. cases OF as
sault aud battery, carry ing concealed
weapons and petty larceny by young
0ffenders.. Much Of the September term
was occupied BY DO called policy
oases' and prize fights, which under
our present law appeared trAvesty on
Justice.
The grand jnry desire to call the At
tenti0n Of our present Legislature 10
this fact, and request them to 80 amend
our laws as TO punish sil aegrces OF
prizs fights and boxing matches where
q fee 10 charged. either with or without
gloves. and suppress all kinds OF gam
bling and games Of chance whether
carried on under the name Of policy
keno, faro, railing or any other name.
Tho almshouse has been visited and
examined In its several departments
1t Is In excellent condition, cleanliness
prevailing through the entire building
The inmates are apparently com Portable
and contented, and q homelike atmos
Iphere pervades the Institution. The
superintendent and his family deserve
commendation for the attention to the
wants and comforts Of the inmates aud
the executive ability displayed In the
general management.
The grand jury visited the county
lpris0n In October of last year. The
county prison, with the exception OF
the vagrAnt department, was In o credi-
table condition. 1t seemed somewhat
crowded. In one cell We found eight
women and one child without liberty to
exercise. We observed there small
boy. who was recommended by the
grand jury At the September term to be
sent to the Ferris Reform School Much
surprise WAS exDesssed at the recon
mendation not D11ng carried ont, as the
grand jury had made this recon menda.
tion on the advice Of the court.
Our attention has been called to the
yeAsly increasing number of vagrants
that are q serious burden to ths tax.
payers OF the county. At the time Of
our visiting the jail, the departm ent as
signed to them was filled with lazy,
worthless vagabonds, who make the
county jail refuge In winter, and In
summer spread over the country . ter.
ror aud nuisance to our citizens. We
alFo notice that by the last quarterly
report of the Trustees Of the Poor that
about 2, 100 meals aud near ], 900 loig
ings had bean furnished these vagrant
tramps ct the almshouse. When we
CONSIDER the cost of committing to jail
and feeding them while there, IL viii
amount TO sum that would astonish
lour tax paying citizens. We want TO
Iurge upon our Legislature the necessity
LOT eracting law that would compel
these vagrants to work ont the ex pense
they entail upon the county. There
would be doubtless fewer OF them com
mitted to prison III, f,however, they are TO
be continued ~ wards Of the county, IL
is necessary that their place Of confine-
mont should be better ventilated ior in
Its preseat condition IL 10 not At even
for a tramp
Il Tba nd t-.- 20
: ton to the Increase of crime aud i'm
morality arising from the use and abuse
of irtoxicating liquors. A large ma
1rity Of the cases occupy ing the at,en
tion OF this body during the past year
are traced directly to thie cause, entail
Ing destitution, suffering aud ruin on
many families, fl ling our prisons with
} Icriminals, debasiDg the morals OF the
rising generation and raising our taxes
J to excess. We would respectfully urge
, upon our honorable court and the Legis
7 lature the great necessity Of devisipg 4
l some means of abating this dangerous
t aud growing evil. From our experience
I the paet year we should suggest the
wedding out and ourtailing OF hotel and
saloon licenses.
The :-aad jury would earnestly call
:he attention OF the Leg iplature to the
alarming growth of corruption in our
u neral and primary elections by the
{: free use OF money. fraudulent counting
of the ballots and the stutfipg OF the bal.
: lot boxes, debssin2 the manhood of the
voters and rendering nugatory the voice
of the people, and would therefore ear.
nestly urge the present Legislature to
, frame aud pass such lava rs would
com pletely eradicate this RowinR evil.
The grand jury would call the atte1.
tion of the ooutt TO the facilities afford.
ed thieves by the keepers OF junk shops
for the disposition of their plunder ID
beconi ing 30 easy that it encourages a
great deal OF theft that otherwise would
mot be committed. We prese Mt this fact
TO the court for the purpose of inform
ling cheese junk dealers that they render
Ithemselve liable to arrest and punish-
ment for their neglect OF caution In
!, Ipuroh as,pg articles which they might
! easily know were stolen. The gran d
otjury have observed, dur ing their term
Just closed, that much delay and con fu
sion Is caused by witnesses not being
present to 90 before the grand Jury. ii
often happens that four or five witnesses
!, belonging to thu same case will be pres
ient and one absent, without whom the
: grand jury cannot act.
The four or ave must then walt un oil
the one can be produced. This is par
Iticularly true In the city of Whining.
Iton where the witnesses are unknown
. land pretty hard TO find. We recon-.
Imend that the officers who give the
d preliminary hearings endorse on the
hack of the commitments aud rec0gni
zances, the place of residence of such
Witnesses and that the clerk of thf
u peace then insert their place OF resi-
,, ldence In the subj enas after theil
names. This would remedy this de